Marlins Hold Card

ETHAN J. SKOLNICK COMMENTARY

Rusty Or Not, Lowell Has Earned Spot On Field

September 26, 2003|ETHAN J. SKOLNICK COMMENTARY

If he is cleared today, he should play. Simple. This isn't basketball, where a franchise player's tardy return can throw off the rhythm of a team that had created another identity for the previous 69 games (see Alonzo Mourning, Miami Heat, 2000-01). This isn't football, where everyone is so interdependent.

This is the most individual of all major team sports, and this is the player who carried his team into contention and still is deemed the club MVP by many teammates. He has overcome much more than a broken bone in his life and -- doctors willing -- should be back at third base when the Marlins start the playoffs Tuesday in San Francisco.

This is the real Mr. Marlin, the cancer survivor who grew into an All-Star here, a consummate team guy who should take part in this Marlins edition's greatest glory.

Mike Lowell entered Thursday's game still leading the Marlins in home runs (32) and RBI (105) despite missing the past 23 games with a fractured fourth metatarsal bone in his left hand. Those remaining have rallied, clinching at worst a wild-card tie by winning 16 times, some with the assistance of Jeff Conine, swiftly and smartly acquired to play left field while remarkable rookie Miguel Cabrera seamlessly switched to third.

They have, astonishingly, kept 2003 alive for themselves. And for him. Today, Lowell learns if he can start repaying them. He visits with a doctor and, if cleared, could play in Sunday's season finale against the Mets.

Asked Thursday if he had considered not getting one of Jack McKeon's 25 roster spots, Lowell said: "I'm not looking at it that way at all. It's Jack's call, it's their call, but I figure if I can swing and I get at-bats Sunday, I'm ready. It's their call what to do with that, but no, I'm not preparing myself not to be activated."

He shouldn't need to.

But should he work back in slowly, with Cabrera and Conine remaining in their spots? Should the Marlins stay status quo to maintain momentum? Should they worry about losing continuity by making a change now?

No. No. No.

If Lowell can play, he should play. He should start. Cabrera, arguably the team's top rookie, should go back to left. Conine, who can play four positions and has the makeup to be a productive pinch hitter, should go to the bench, available if anyone clearly scuffles.

Sentimental? Sure. Lowell has done enough to deserve any benefit of the doubt. But it's practical too. What is momentum in baseball? To quote the Marlins' last playoff manager, your next starting pitcher. And what is chemistry? McKeon changed his closer in the final week, kept changing his lineup and kept using Michael Tejera against lefties. If this resilient group can keep winning amid that, it can surely overcome any distraction brought on by the return of its All-Star third baseman.

And what is the worst that can happen if Lowell returns? We know he can field -- the injury was to his glove hand. And if he goes 0 for 4 in the playoff opener while hitting seventh? It's just one spot in eight, not including the pitcher. The Marlins have won with Alex Gonzalez's average sliding for months. They won before Derrek Lee got hot. They even treaded water from Aug. 10-30 when Lowell hit under .200 with two homers.

Based on Conine's average since returning to the Marlins, 1 for 4 would be above average for him, his repeated heroics against the Phillies aside. So, you're risking the loss of a couple of hits. Maybe. You can afford that, even in a short series, and maybe by the end a comfortable Lowell would get his timing and confidence back and thus start to make up any difference. Juan Encarnacion, who has had the same injury, suggests his teammate is underestimating the difficulty of recovery. But again, a man who has had testicular cancer knows his own body. Lowell is mature enough to know whether he can handle a fastball and ask out if he can't.

Remember, he missed 16 days of spring training with a lower-back strain, returning a week before the season, then hitting .293 and slugging .568 in the first month. If not for Lowell, the struggling club -- losing A.J. Burnett, not yet blessed by Cabrera or Dontrelle Willis -- might have been too far out for Trader Jack to take the no-hope job, up in smoke before he could puff some magic on it.

"I think it's going to be decided by our doctors," McKeon said. "But let's be realistic. He's a guy that hasn't picked a bat up in three weeks. We all have to be intelligent enough to say `Do we want you 100 percent or do we just want you out there?'"

Trust Lowell to be intelligent enough. The past month has been more amazing, more heartwarming than anything the high-priced 1997 Marlins accomplished to this point.

But it should not obscure the previous five. Mike Lowell started all this. If he gets the doctor's OK today, he should get every chance to finish.